You have to wonder if Tessa's injury will have time to heal sufficiently so that they can safely practice again. Worlds is only 5 weeks away, and muscle injuries need rest. As bad as 4CC was for them, having the same scenario play out at Worlds would be even worse.

You have to wonder if Tessa's injury will have time to heal sufficiently so that they can safely practice again. Worlds is only 5 weeks away, and muscle injuries need rest. As bad as 4CC was for them, having the same scenario play out at Worlds would be even worse.

I'm more concerned about the risk of it affecting Tessa over the rest of her life (the compartment syndrome), and I think they are. If this plays out at worlds like this, I'll be disappointed, but as long as there's no long term damage, I think I'd be okay.

I think they demonstrated in the SD just how quick a learning curve they have. Granted, they've had all season to observe, but how quickly they seemed to grasp onto that concept.

From my point of view having seen both teams live at Skate America, the Shibs are faster and more powerful skaters than Crone/Poirier.

No offense, but I find this post laughable. C&P are far more powerful skaters than the Shibs at this point. The Shibs will get more power in their skating but at this point POWER is the one big thing they are lacking.

FWIW, it'll be interesting to see what kind of programs Igor and Marina come up with for the Shibs in the future. They are not used to choreographing for sibling teams and the style and musical choices will be interesting.

I think at the end of the day, the ISU will go with a non-sibling team (ie. I&K) over the Shibs when major titles are on the line. But we'll see.

After watching that emotional roller coaster ride last night ,then trying to stop worrying and snatch a few hrs. sleep , I'm so relieved to see the reports of Tessa's condition this late morning.

I'm taking the explanation at face value ..There will be many of us who know ,first hand, that when you're recovering from an injury or surgery, it's so , so easy to put too much strain on, or injure some other muscle, tendon ,etc. Other parts of your body automatically try to take up the slack , and when you feel this you must stop ,or risk a further separate injury. So I'm going to look forward to World's and hope that's enough time for Tessa to progress beyond that stage. The 30 seconds or so that we saw of their FD was spot on ballroom Latin ( brilliantly brought on to the ice) and I long to see the whole thing. ( Can they move, or what ?)

I'm still not getting a real tango feeling from Meryl and Charlie, and I want to , so I'll just trust them to keep polishing.( I thought I noticed a couple of teensy bobbles , too ..but it was 4;30 AM ,and there were some less than great camera angles ).

The Shibs ! I just knew they could do what they did ( come up right behind D/W ) by just doing what they do.. ( if you take my meaning ) It was , once again , delightful. Airy above, crisp below and smooth all over.

W/P ?..Andrew has to get a grip, and not be vulnerable to the unexpected, if they hope to establish themselves at World's. They finally had the the kind of cushion they deserve after their SD ( this hasn't always been the case , IMO ), only to see a medal slip away by another narrow margin , and this time it was truly in their power to avoid.( Please do it, guys! )

C/P didn't skate particularly well , but well enough. They,too, had a couple of bobbles.. (bumping together, having to reach..that kind of thing ).They were obviously not happy with their marks, but who knows whether that was just due to knowing mistakes they'd made , or if they thought they were undermarked. Anyway, they can't have been pleased to be passed by the Shibs.

I'm really appreciating C/Z's program more and more. They may have skated it better at US Nat.s ( can't remember clearly )..but I find it more appealing every time I see it.

I think what everyone needs to remember is that Vanessa is older than Paul, and the 2 of them have been skating together for ages and ages. I think they said something like 11 years at Canadians? There is a familiarity there, and a real youthfulness. Paul is only 19 years old, I believe. Some young men just take awhile to look and act older. Vanessa, at a "very mature 20" (haha) looks and acts older. Girls tend to look and act older sooner than most boys around that age. Like a lot of bright young women chasing high performance goals, Vanessa strikes me as someone who is self-confident, speaks her mind, and is a natural leader. That's not a bad thing! I've also noticed that coach and Vanessa tend to "protect" Paul. I didn't see this so much this year, but a year or 2 ago I remember specifically at one of the big competitions Vanessa put her arm around Paul's waist (instead of the other way around) before going to skate in a comforting gesture, and coach wiping his face in the KnC. Maybe all of this combined does not lend itself well to "stronger male/softer female" paradigm some people might describe as "team chemistry". Add to that the fact that Vanessa and Paul have a more athletic style than normally seen in traditional dance, and the team doesn't appeal to everyone. But that's ok. There are many different types of dance, and Vanessa and Paul are going to discover their own groove. Their program this year is a good start. And as they grow older, I'm sure their relationship will develop and grow on ice as well. For now, let's cut them some slack. They're KIDS!

And we should also cut Weaver/Poje some slack today. I'm sure the events with Tessa/Scott really threw them. Let's remember that Tessa/Scott and Andrew go WAY back. They all trained together in Waterloo at one point, I believe. I am actually really proud of those 2. They had PB on both skates, even with errors on the FD. I'm sure it is super frustrating to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, but they have to hang on to the fact that if they put down 2 clean programs, they can finish way up there. And if Tessa and Scott are not at Worlds (and I kinda hope they take the season off, and get well, and then come back with this program next year so that we can watch it grow and change throughout the season), Canada is still in good hands with both C/P and W/P who could very well finish right next to each other, in any order, in a 5/6 position.

I think what everyone needs to remember is that Vanessa is older than Paul, and the 2 of them have been skating together for ages and ages. I think they said something like 11 years at Canadians? There is a familiarity there, and a real youthfulness. Paul is only 19 years old, I believe. Some young men just take awhile to look and act older. Vanessa, at a "very mature 20" (haha) looks and acts older. Girls tend to look and act older sooner than most boys around that age. Like a lot of bright young women chasing high performance goals, Vanessa strikes me as someone who is self-confident, speaks her mind, and is a natural leader. That's not a bad thing! I've also noticed that coach and Vanessa tend to "protect" Paul. I didn't see this so much this year, but a year or 2 ago I remember specifically at one of the big competitions Vanessa put her arm around Paul's waist (instead of the other way around) before going to skate in a comforting gesture, and coach wiping his face in the KnC. Maybe all of this combined does not lend itself well to "stronger male/softer female" paradigm some people might describe as "team chemistry". Add to that the fact that Vanessa and Paul have a more athletic style than normally seen in traditional dance, and the team doesn't appeal to everyone. But that's ok. There are many different types of dance, and Vanessa and Paul are going to discover their own groove. Their program this year is a good start. And as they grow older, I'm sure their relationship will develop and grow on ice as well. For now, let's cut them some slack. They're KIDS!

And we should also cut Weaver/Poje some slack today. I'm sure the events with Tessa/Scott really threw them. Let's remember that Tessa/Scott and Andrew go WAY back. They all trained together in Waterloo at one point, I believe. I am actually really proud of those 2. They had PB on both skates, even with errors on the FD. I'm sure it is super frustrating to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, but they have to hang on to the fact that if they put down 2 clean programs, they can finish way up there. And if Tessa and Scott are not at Worlds (and I kinda hope they take the season off, and get well, and then come back with this program next year so that we can watch it grow and change throughout the season), Canada is still in good hands with both C/P and W/P who could very well finish right next to each other, in any order, in a 5/6 position.

Vanessa reminds me of Marina Anissina, not a wicked witch. She isn't Tanith Belbin or Tessa Virtue, but she is beautiful. Her partner is just very babyfaced.

No offense, but I find this post laughable. C&P are far more powerful skaters than the Shibs at this point. The Shibs will get more power in their skating but at this point POWER is the one big thing they are lacking.

FWIW, it'll be interesting to see what kind of programs Igor and Marina come up with for the Shibs in the future. They are not used to choreographing for sibling teams and the style and musical choices will be interesting.

I think at the end of the day, the ISU will go with a non-sibling team (ie. I&K) over the Shibs when major titles are on the line. But we'll see.

So the judges will just forget about the skating, because they like non sibling teams better. Oh brother. I think Igor and Marina can come up with suitable, difficult programs for the Shibs.

To me, Crone/Poirier seem more like brother and sister or platonic friends because I don't sense any chemistry between them. Their skating may be technically intricate, but it is not compelling. Frankly, I find them proficient but overall, somewhat boring. The Shibutanis, OTOH, skate with such joy and freedom that they make me feel happy.

Romantic music wouldn't be a fit for the Shibutanis, but it wouldn't for C/P, either.

Virtue and Moire's FD (the part that was performed) looked very rough to me, like they're way deep in the process of working things through. Slow, lots of very sloppy changes of hold and I think they're manufacturing the Latin movement rather than letting the movement occur organically. I honestly don't think that Tessa's really a natural fit for Latin. Her body, her personality, or looks... I don't think the movement and the personality of the dance comes naturally to her. I'm not saying it can't work. I didn't think flamenco was a natural fit for them last year, either but they made it work well. With the samba, the little of the choreography that we've seen is very packed, and it's going to take some time to get the speed going in this free and for the transitions to be seamless. I am very concerned with their curtailed training time that they're really not going to have a chance to really make this dance work by Worlds.

Not having seen them in person, I'm not sure how much the Shibs lack power..they certainly seem to gain speed quickly ...but even if they have room to grow in the power dept, they have one great advantage over many older couples... finesse. And Alex seems to be a wonderful partner as well as a fine skater.The two are not always synonymous.

I can see no weakness in them. Yes, they may be able to improve in one area or another ( going from good to better )...but what I said earlier for P/I holds true for the Shibs, there's nothing you can point out that would an be impediment to their progress ( especially since she has grown ).

And I agree Z/S have generally been so good at coming up with programs tailored for their various teams, I don't forsee any major stumbling block.